The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said it would enter the factory to assist a court officer demanding the former employees leave the factory. However, the court officer left after failing to deliver the document, and the police did not act.

About 800 workers are still in the plant and they’ll resist "in the face of death" if the police force tries to forcibly disperse them, union spokesman Lee Chang Kun told the Bloomberg news agency.

Ssangyong was placed under court control in February, after facing a "serious" cash shortage. It came out of court protection last month, but more than a third of the workforce was made redundant as part of the restructuring plan for the company to survive then occupied the factory.

The occupation has caused production losses of about 10,800 vehicles, worth about £110 million, according to Ssangyong.